Shoe tree



April 23, 1946. I

R. c. MAGEE SHOE TREE Filed June 6, 1945 INVENTOR A540 6. w

ah ATTORNEYJ' Patented Apr. 23, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,399,128 SHOE TREE Robert C. Magee, Dayton, Ohio I Application June 6,1945, Serial No. 597,855

4 Claims.

The general object of the present improvements is to provide a shoe-treewhich, if desired, may be conveniently attached to a wall or other fixedsupport and when so attached, as well as when held in the hand, may bereadily inserted into a shoe and manipulated to apply a stretching forcethereto. The improvements have been designed both with a view tosupporting and holding shoes in a convenient position for cleaning andpolishing and with a view to the storage of shoes along the side of awall of a closet, for example, in such a way as to require a minimum ofspace for housing them.

A simple embodiment of my improved shoetree is shown in the accompanyingdrawing whereof the single figure is a view in elevation, partly insection, in which the full lines indicate the position of the parts whenthe shoe-tree is to be inserted in a shoe, and the broken lines theposition of the parts in their stretching position within the shoe.

The stretcher bar I0, and the toe-piece I I carried by the forward endthereof, may be of conventional form, with the toe-piece adjustable onsaid bar in any customary manner, as by providing the toe-piece with apin I2 to fit slots in that end of the bar. The other end of thestretcher-bar has a pivotal connection I3 to the end of a curvedsupporting-arm I4, which may be attached to a wall or other fixedsupport as shown, or will serve as a handle for the shoetree in case thelatter is not to be attached to a fixed support.

The heel-piece I5, which preferably consists of two identical stampingsheld together by screws or rivets I6, I! and closely embracing thestretcher-bar at I8, is pivoted to the supportingarm I4. This may bedone by passing the screw or rivet I6 through the supporting-arm. Itwill be noted that this screw or rivet I6 is above the pivotalconnection I3 of the stretcher-bar to the supporting-arm, and thusprovides a pivotal support for the heel-piece above the pivotal supportof the stretcher-bar, while the screw or rivet I1 is placed below thepivotal support of the stretcher-bar for a reason which will presentlyappear. Between the pivotal support I3 and the screw or rivet I7 is aspring I9, preferably a coil-spring, as shown, held under compression bybeing forced at one end against a shoulder of an arm 2| through whichthe pivot I3 passes and around which said spring is coiled, and at theother end against the screw or rivet ll which thus acts as an abutmentfor that end of the spring.

When the device has been secured, for example, to a wall, and isdisposed, as shown in full lines, substantially horizontally, thestretcher-bar I0 is in its retracted position and thus ready to receivea shoe which is readily fitted over the device while in this position.Then the stretcher-bar is depressed by pushing downwardly upon it sothat it will occupy the position shown in the broken lines. Thedepression of the stretcherbar, being embraced as it is by theheel-piece, will cause the heel-piece to swing about the rivet I6, andthe arm 2| to swing around the pivot I3, until the heel-piece and thearm I3 with its encircling spring I9 occupy the respective positionsshown in the broken lines. At that moment, further movement of thestretcher-bar is halted by an edge of an opening 22 in the heel-piece(through which the end of the supporting-arm I4 passes) coming incontact with the support ing-arm; and likewise, when the stretcher-baris moved from its depressed position back to its first or horizontalposition, this backward movement is halted by the opposite edge of saidopening coming in contact with the supporting-arm. The stretcher-bar ismaintained in both of its normal positions, that is, in its horizontaland depressed positions respectively, by the force of the spring actingagainst the rivet I! as an abutment.

It will be noted that when the shoe-tree has been inserted in a shoe andis in its depressed position, it will be maintained and held there in aconvenient posture for cleaning and polishing the shoe, and also that inthis position the shoe may be brought fairly close to the wall or otherfixed support to which the supporting-arm is attached. Thus, in the casewhere several of these shoe-trees are attached to the wall of a closet,for example, the space required in the closet for housing shoes will berelatively slight. It will also be noted that in a case where theshoe-tree is not attached to a fixed support, the supporting-arm I4 willserve as a handle therefor by which the shoe-tree can be carried aboutand by which it may be held when being inserted into a shoe andmanipulated to its stretching position therein.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shoe-tree, the combination with a supporting-arm therefor, of aheel-piece pivoted thereto, a stretcher-bar having a toe-piece at oneend and a pivotal connection to said supportingarm at its other end andembraced by the heelpiece, and a spring between said pivotal connectionand an abutment on the heel-piece to ment, whereby the stretcher-bar isnormal-1y maintained by the spring in either one of .two positionsrelative to the supporting-arm.

3. The combination defined in claim; Zandiurther characterized by this:that the heel-piece embraces one end of said supporting-arm and has anopening through which said supportingarm passes, the edges of whichopening being adapted to contact with said arm to limit the movement ofthe stretcher-bar when it is swung from one of its normal positions tothe other.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 and further characterized by this:that said heel-piece is iorjmed in two parts held together byrivets oneQfi. which provides the pivot for securing. said heelpiece to saidsupporting-arm and the other of which provides said abutment on thheel-piece for said spring.

ROBERT C. MAGEE.

